The story of sugar and molasses

Raw sugar comes from either cane or beet. With cane, the plant is crushed (several times) and washed, then boiled to remove impurities and to concentrate the sugar that it contains. It is evaporated in stages in vacuum tanks increasing the sugar content each time. This gives the raw sugars which are light yellow to dark brown in color, and sticky too - both due to the molasses content.

Centrifuging, by spinning at high speed, separates the molasses from the brown colored sugar at several stages. At each stage the molasses is less and less sweet. The final stage is quite bitter and is called blackstrap molasses, it is used for cattle feed.

The brown sugar crystals from the final boiling and centrifuging stage can then be melted and passed through charcoal filters to remove the color and giving white, coarse crystals of granulated sugar, medium crystals for caster sugar and fine frosting (icing) sugars.

Sugar beet

This is a sweet relative of the beetroot with a long tapering root formally known as Beta vulgaris altissima. It is a member of the family Chenopodiaceae and the genus Beta (beets). thus it is a relative of the mangold-wurzel (or mangel-wurzel). The beets include not only the sugar beet but beetroot (Beta vulgaris craca), and Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris flavascens).

It is grown in more temperate climates, such as Europe or North America, where sugar cane will not grow. Sugar was originally extracted from them in about 1750 by the Prussians.

For beet, the initial extraction process is a little different from that for cane. The plant is stripped and washed and then sliced thinly. It is soaked in hot water to diffuse out the sugar. It is then treated with lumps of limestone to remove impurities before being processed in a similar manner to cane to concentrate the sugar. Beet sugar, unlike cane sugar, is almost white already.

Sugar cane

This is like a gigantic grass, from 8 to24ft high, with a bamboo-like segmented stalk about two inches diameter. For a bamboo it is a relatively slow grower, taking from 9 to 14 months to mature and flower. The soft fibres within the stalk contain the valuable sugar.

Several species of Saccharum are found in Southeast Asia and neighboring islands, and from these cultivated cane probably originated. The sweet juice and crystallized sugar were known in China and India some 2500 years ago. Sugar cane reached the Mediterranean countries in the eighth century A.D., and reached the Americas in early colonial times.

Sugar cane is now mostly grown in the islands of the Caribbean, and the Indian & Pacific Oceans. About 40 to 45 million tonnes are grown worldwide annually.

Molasses

Molasses, obtained in the refining of sugar, is a thick, sweet, golden-brown liquid. It was the principal sweetener in North American households. It was popular as, unlike granular sugar, it stored well and did not mind the damp.

Molasses was exported from the Caribbean aboard sailing ships being transported in large oak barrels called puncheons. These puncheons were very heavy, each holding 90 gallons.

There are three qualities of molasses.

First quality - made from the juice of sun ripened cane; no, or minimal, sugar extracted.

Second boil molasses - is darker and has a distinct flavor.

Third boil molasses - Very dark and bitter known as blackstrap.

Molasses, as just described, is not well known in Europe, treacles and syrups are better known there.

Syrup

These are condensed sugar-cane juice, that is the part remaining uncrystallized at various stages of refining.

Golden Syrup

Is made from the syrups obtained from the second or third boiling, to which a proportion of a solution of invert-sugar is added.

Treacle

Treacle is dark in color like molasses and comes from the residue from the second stage of crystallization of raw sugar. It is less bitter and viscous than molasses.

Substitution

In Europe, where molasses is harder to find, it can be tricky to identify a suitable substitute. When an American recipe says 'Molasses' it is not always clear what type is called for. Also the liquid content can vary so further adjustments may be required.

If an American recipe calls for a specifc brand name of molasses then a search of the web can often give clues. Brand name molasses tend to be of first quality and a golden syrup or half golden syrup/ half treacle can give a good result.

If the recipe is for a dark result, such as dark gingerbread, then treacle alone should be used.

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